Few weeks to the 2019 general elections, the political atmosphere in the country is charged, as different groups are outdoing one another and mounting pressure on the polity, especially with the endorsements of two presidential candidates of the leading parties, and the endorsement of candidates for different positions.

The presidential candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar respectively are locked in an intense battle for the presidential seat in 2019.

According to Daily Trust, individuals and groups are surreptitiously “trading” endorsements of the two leading contenders, even though other presidential candidates are also getting “subtle” endorsements.

The trade galore

Over 60 other opposition parties are also fielding candidates for the presidency; but the battle line has been drawn between candidates of the two “big” parties, signaling that Buhari will either retain his seat or lose it to Atiku.

However, although some of the parties have their candidates, many of them, nonetheless, joined a political platform called the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) which adopted Atiku as its sole candidate for the February, 2019, presidential poll.

Convener of CUPP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who made the disclosure while addressing a world press conference in Abuja, said the former vice president met the criteria used in the choice of a presidential candidate for the coalition.

Prince Oyinlola noted that CUPP, an umbrella body of 45 registered political parties, arrived at the decision based on Atiku’s experience in administration, economic management and politics.

However, some political parties like SDP, GDPN and KOWA which were listed among those that endorsed Atiku have since distanced themselves from the claim.

Shortly after the formation of CUPP, the National Chairman of the APC, Com. Adams Oshiomhole, described them as “dead political parties.

“They said they are doing alliance, Peugeot 404 and Volkswagen, can the dead rise again?” Oshiomhole asked.

A former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who was one of those that played key roles for the emergence of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as president in the 2015 general elections, has since passed a vote of no confidBut while Obasanjo has anointed Atiku to take over the apex seat in the land, his son, Olujonwo Obasanjo, has spurned his father’s rejection of President Buhari and asked Nigerians to re-elect the latter, saying he has positioned Nigeria on the correct path.

Another former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has also thrown his weight behind Atiku after his emergence as the PDP candidate at the party’s national convention held in Port Harcourt in October this year.

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) also rejected Buhari recently, scoring him low in terms of performance and endorsed Atiku as the next president.

The National President of MACBAN, Muhammadu Kirowa, announced that they had endorsed Buhari. Kirowa stated this at the 2018 Annual General Meeting of MACBAN held at the International Women Development Centre in Abuja.

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), however, said it would not endorse either Atiku or Buhari, but preferred to be neutral.

While many groups and stakeholders in the PDP in the South East, where Atiku’s running mate, Chief Peter Obi, hails from, and other geo-political zones have endorsed Atiku, President Buhari has also found himself in the good books of some relevant stakeholders in the polity who have endorsed his candidature.

A pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, Afenifere, on December 20, endorsed Buhari for a second term.

Buhari has hundreds of associations rooting for him, including the Buhari Support Organisation (BMO) led by Customs Comptroller, Hameed Ali, which brought together many smaller organisations, and another one, the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups (NCBSG) led by Sen. Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina) which brought together hundreds of other organisations.

At the last count, Atiku also has over 300 groups rooting for his election; but the question is whether they would all play different roles this time around that will prove their efficacy.

•Excerpted from a Daily Trust report

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